CATCUDDLES VETS LONDON TERMS AND CONDITIONS 

Thank you for entrusting the care of your cat(s) to Catcuddles Vets London. By registering your cat/cats with Catcuddles you agree that you have read and understood our terms and conditions and agree to be bound by them.  Should you require any clarification of any aspect of the terms then please ask.  

Our opening times: 

Catcuddles Vets London are open on weekdays from 9am to 6pm in Palmers Green, London N13 and at the Tony Welsh Cat Clinic in Hither Green, London SE13. Our consulting hours may vary so please always call to book an appointment, or send us an email.

Eligibility criteria/ Cornerstones of Care:

At Catcuddles, we see an immense amount of suffering on a daily basis that could have been prevented with a very safe, simple, and affordable procedure; neutering. Therefore we have decided to include this in our key eligibility criteria to registering new patients.

We welcome new registrations. By registering with us, you consent to accepting fully the Cornerstones of Care set by Catcuddles. These are:

1. All felines must either be already neutered or have a neutering appointment booked at the time of their first consultation with us, unless medically exempt. If your female cat is already neutered, we will ask you to provide proof of neutering or clinical history from the vet practice that performed the procedure. If neutering is postponed to a later date due to a cat being unwell at time of registration, requiring prior treatment, you agree to have the cat neutered as soon as viable in order to continue being a registered patient. We reserve the right to request advance booking of neutering and prepayment at time of booking (chargeable event). 

We accept new clients, who have completed our registration form online and under exceptional circumstances over the phone or in person. Details, including relevant medical history, must be requested from the previous veterinary surgeon(s), in accordance with RCVS code of conduct. 

Consultations and estimates: 

Our consultation fee for registered, guideline compliant patients is £38 for a 15-minute consultation. Additional charges apply to extended consultation times beyond 15 minutes.  The standard consultation charge for emergency consults or consultations for non registered clients is £65 for 15 minutes, again, if the consultation lasts longer than 15 minutes then a charge of £25 will be applied for every ten minutes thereafter. Any medication or procedures are charged on top of this and are payable at the time of consultation. 

Our veterinary surgeon will examine your cat and discuss with you the treatment options  during your consultation. A surgical or diagnostic procedure might be advised. In that case you will be given an estimate for the probable cost of treatment or surgical procedure. Please bear in mind that any estimate given can only be approximate and additional costs may occur which cannot be predicted at the outset of treatment.  

Procedures do not always take place on the same day as your appointment. We ask for a minimum of 50% of the estimate to be paid as a deposit prior to admission. The remainder of the final invoice will have to be paid when your pet is discharged from the clinic.  

You may settle your accounts using cash, certain credit cards or a debit card. If, as the owner of your pet are not present to settle your account as above, we request that you arrange  payment either over the telephone or via the person collecting your pet and/or their  medication. We regret that we are not able to offer deferred payment of any kind at present. 

All professional fees and medicine charges are subject to VAT at the current rate. Itemised fee breakdowns are always available for every treatment. You are liable for any fees incurred in the diagnosis and treatment of your pet even if your pet is brought to us on your behalf by a  relative, friend or agent. 

Fee levels are determined by the time spent on a case and according to drugs, consumables,  materials, diets, and equipment used. A member of staff will be happy to discuss any queries  you have. You should receive an invoice after every consultation, surgical or medical procedure or transaction with us. 

No medicine can be dispensed without payment being received at the time the items are collected. 

Extra hospitalisation charges will apply if you do not collect your cat on the agreed day of discharge. These charges currently stand at £35 per day.  

Prescriptions: 

Written prescriptions are available upon request. Prescription charges are applied only when  you request a prescription from us but go elsewhere to have the prescription filled. Cats requiring repeat prescriptions will need to be re-assessed periodically by the Veterinary Surgeon dealing with the case. The re-examination interval will vary between clinical cases.  Please give us at least five working days’ notice for any requests for a repeat or written  prescription. There is a charge for a re-examination, details of which will be provided on  enquiry. 

You may obtain Prescription Only Medicines, category V (POM-V) from your Veterinary  Surgeon or ask for a prescription and obtain these from another Veterinary Surgeon or Pharmacy. Your Veterinary Surgeon may only prescribe POM-Vs for animals under his/her  care. A prescription may not be appropriate if your pet is an in-patient or immediate treatment  is necessary. You will be informed, on request, of the price of any medication that may be  prescribed for your cat(s). 

We can only prescribe medications of animals that are registered with our Practice and  already been treated by one of our Veterinary Surgeons. To comply with current Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons we cannot supply medications or prescriptions without first  seeing the animal. We can fill prescriptions properly issued by other Veterinary Surgeons in  exceptional circumstances. 

Prescriptions are only available for a maximum of up to 6 months at a time. The Veterinary Surgeon will provide medication based on a patient’s clinical needs, and where repeat examinations are required, the duration of treatment per prescription may be shorter. This is to comply with RCVS code of conduct and guidance and cannot be avoided. 

Please note that we cannot accept the return of any prescription drugs as such items cannot  be resold. If you wish us to safely dispose of any unwanted medication we can do so. 

Cat Health Insurance: 

There is no NHS for cats. Catcuddles advocates the use of appropriate pet health insurance against unexpected illness and accidents. Please be aware it is your responsibility to determine the level of cover provided by your insurance company for any treatment we  recommend, and to then reclaim any fees from your insurance company. It is also your responsibility to pay any excess that may be set by your insurance company.

It is your responsibility to submit claims to your insurer and to be reimbursed by them after settling our account. 

No show/late cancellation fee: 

Please note, a no show fee/late cancellation of £25 will be charged for any appointment  cancelled less than one working day prior to your appointment or up to 50% of the estimate of  any surgical procedure booked (up to £150). 

Care of in-patients: 

During opening times, either a veterinary surgeon and/or a qualified veterinary nurse will be present at the clinic and will be monitoring all in-patients. Overnight stay might be offered in  rare cases and after a risk assessment discussion with the owner. If your cat is staying at the  clinic overnight, please be aware that we do not have overnight staff. Your cat will be checked  prior to the closure of the clinic and in the morning at opening time. Your cat will be  unsupervised in between those hours. They will be given a comfortable bed, food, a litter tray  and treatment as agreed. If your cat is staying in overnight, you can ask to see the kennel. 

Out-of-hours: 

Catcuddles Cat Clinic does not offer an out-of-hours emergency service. If you need emergency vet care out of normal clinic hours, please call our number and you will be redirected to our out of hours provider, Veteris. Veteris are our dedicated out-of-hours service, who can provide advice over the phone and specialise in emergency home visits. If they believe your pet requires hospitalisation, they have an ambulance service which will take your pet to their purpose-built hospital in Shoreditch.

Referral system: 

Catcuddles Cat Clinic is a first opinion clinic. Based on your cat’s medical needs, we might  offer referral to specialist hospitals or 24hr emergency centres. We can refer you to the  hospital of your choice or discuss the available options with you if you do not have any preferences. The closest 24hr emergency centre to us is Village Vet Hampstead. The closest specialist referral hospital: Queen Mother Hospital for Animals in Potters Bar. 

Access and ownership of records: 

You can exercise your statutory rights of access, rectification, erasure, objection and data portability by simply getting in touch with us either by phone or by emailing us on clinic@catcuddles.org.uk. 

Privacy policy and use of client data: 

When you register your pet, your details are stored and processed for the following reasons: 

We need to collect your personal information in order to provide you with the veterinary services you have requested we undertake on your behalf to keep your pets happy and healthy. 

This request and our agreement to provide veterinary services constitutes a contract and we will therefore require the ability to process your data in order to fulfil this contract and provide the services to the standards expected by The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. 

Please note that GDPR legislation ONLY pertains to data on people and not animals.

We collect, store and process this information based upon a 'Legitimate & Medical Interest'  because without it we would be unable to provide you with the veterinary services, such as 

● Annual Vaccinations/Health Checks/Blood tests reminders, although the  responsibility to keep them up to date remains with you 

● Emergency treatments 

● Progress reports on your pet’s recovery 

We may also occasionally send you a newsletter, or information that we feel would benefit the health and wellbeing of your pets and could be of interest to you, as the owner. You may withdraw this consent at any time, by clicking the unsubscribe option which can be found at the top and bottom of any such email, or by emailing clinic@catcuddles.org.uk. 

Personal data may be provided to Catcuddles Vets London in several ways including directly  from you (email, post, in person, website) or forwarding of relevant information from  associated parties (such as other veterinary agencies). 

Retention Period: 

The record keeping requirements for Veterinary Medicinal Products (VMPs) are set out in the Veterinary Medicines Regulations (VMRs). Records of the retail supply (which includes  administration) of POM-V and POM-VPS medicines must be kept for 5 years. 

It is Catcuddles Vets London's policy to retain your records, including vaccination records for 5 years post completion of the last veterinary procedure. After which time you can ask that we delete your records if you so wish. You may do this by contacting any member of our team by phone or email clinic@catcuddles.org.uk. Should we not be requested to delete your records, these will be retained indefinitely in order for us to provide a better service at a later date  without having to collect personal data again. 

Storage: 

Your records are stored electronically and hardcopies are stored in a locked facility. Electronic records are backed up daily and stored securely in the cloud. We use Provet Cloud and ezyVet veterinary software. Our data in Provet Cloud and ezyVet is stored separately from other clinics using the same system. This avoids any risk of unwanted leaks into another company’s database. All information is encrypted with secure HTTPS connection – the same method used in online banking. Provet Cloud stores backups of data within their own hosting infrastructure in Finland whilst ezyVet stores backups of data within Amazon Web Services hosting infrastructure. All data is stored on multiple servers in multiple locations.

Other than people authorised by the Catcuddles Vets London (our team at the clinic and our external laboratory), only Provet or ezyVet technicians have access to information when solving possible unexpected situations.

Third-Parties / Outsourced Providers: 

We will never share your data with any third party without your prior written or verbal consent.  Only the following people/agencies will/could have access to your data: 

● Members of the Catcuddles Vets London team, to provide you with services

● Laboratory services: VPG Hitchin, Woodley, NationWide Laboratories or other designated provider

● MicroChip registration: Avid Plc or other designated provider (for new registrations of  microchips implanted with your consent) 

● IT service company who manage our IT and servers (Provet Cloud, ezyVet or other designated provider)

● Website Development company who manage our website 

● Government agencies should this be required for fulfilment of contract

Data Access Requests: 

Under professional guidelines set by the RCVS, clinical and client records including  diagnostic images and similar records, are the property of, and are retained by Catcuddles Vets London in the interests of animal welfare and for our own protection. Although you do not own your pets' clinical records, you have the right to access information and you can do this by contacting any member of the team or emailing clinic@catcuddles.org.uk and submitting a  “Subject Access Request”. We will respond to this request within one calendar month. 

Access if you change vet to or from Catcuddles Vets London: 

Under RCVS guidelines, relevant clinical information / information in the interest of the  treatment of the animal should be provided promptly to colleagues taking over responsibility for a case. Due to GDPR regulations, we are unable to send or request clinical histories for a patient without the owner’s consent. You can either request history to be transferred yourself or make sure you call your previous vet to authorise them to send your cat’s medical history  to the clinic of your choice. 

Your behaviour:

The health, wellbeing and safety of our staff, volunteers, clients, and the pets under our care are our priority. Therefore, we adopt a zero-tolerance stance against any form of intrusive, offensive, violent, or aggressive conduct. Examples of such unacceptable behaviour include: false accusations against our team or clients; making derogatory remarks based on race or sex; offensive sexual gestures or behaviour; using violent, threatening, or abusive language, including swearing and offensive comments; exhibiting violent, threatening, or abusive behaviour towards our staff, clients, or the animals in our care; committing theft or other criminal acts; and disregarding the health and safety regulations of our practice.

Please be aware that we reserve the right to decline providing services to individuals. We retain the discretion to refuse veterinary services, request individuals to leave our premises, or terminate contracts if they or anyone associated with them display such behaviour, whether in our facility or in interactions with our staff or volunteers in any capacity be that email, via our website or on the phone. We acknowledge that not all animals respond to treatment as expected, which can be distressing, and we will consider this when addressing such conduct.

Data Rectification: 

In addition to this, you also have the right to request that we update any information that you believe to be incorrect. It is likely that this request will be dealt with immediately, however we will respond to this request within one calendar month. This can be done by contacting any member of our team by phone or website contact form or emailing clinic@catcuddles.org.uk 

Complaints handling policy: 

We are committed to providing a high-quality veterinary service to all our clients. When  something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help to improve our standards. If you have a complaint, please email us at complaints.clinic@catcuddles.org.uk 

What will happen next? 

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 28 days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure. 

2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our practice manager, who will review it. 

3. They will then either invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint, or alternatively write to you with her response to the complaint, within 28 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. 

4. Within three days of any meeting, they will write to you to confirm what took place and  any solutions she has agreed with you. 

5. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for our charity director to review the decision.